


when the smoke is in your eyes you look so alive

by louxsweetcheeks



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M, and harry's useless around hot people, and louis smokes a lot and draws a lot and climbs roofs, and niall is not a man of his words, basically there's a lot of pining, so i finally made a fic that isnt sad yay me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-14
Updated: 2016-01-21
Packaged: 2018-05-13 16:53:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5709925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/louxsweetcheeks/pseuds/louxsweetcheeks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis likes to smoke on their roof, and he loves how the sunset casts shadows when he draws. Harry absolutely MUST be home at 5 PM every day because he likes to watch the hot guy from across the road smoke and draw.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> title is from Fallingforyou by the 1975
> 
> (huge thanks to Judy because she's awesome and she makes me smile)

“Hazzzzzz.” Niall groaned, both arms wrapped around Harry’s waist from behind. Harry rolled his eyes and kept walking, dragging Niall with him through the corridor on the way to their English class. “Please come over after school. I miss spending time with you.”

Harry rolled his eyes again. He does that a lot when he’s with Niall. “You just need me to help on your essay.”

For a moment they stopped walking. “Well, yeah, that too.” Niall buried his head on Harry’s back as Harry resumed walking. The hot couple by the lockers, a mysterious guy in a leather jacket and the other guy in a flannel who always looks serious, paused their snog fest to look at them weirdly. “But I also really miss you. You never come over anymore.”

Harry sighed and untangled himself from Niall. “I have the keys to our house. My mum wouldn’t be able to get in if I wasn’t home yet by the time she gets there. She’s always saying something about getting another set of keys but she always forgets.”

Niall groaned again. He does that a lot when he’s with Harry. “I don’t get why she can’t just have the keys and then you can come over our house while waiting for her to get home.” And then his eyes widened. “Of course! Of fucking course. How could I forget? You have be at home at five because that’s when that hot guy smokes, right?”

Harry slapped a hand over Niall’s gigantic mouth. “Shut up, Ni! What if he’s around and hears you?”

Niall flicked Harry’s hand away. “He won’t. He’s in class.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because we’re the only ones here. We’re late.” Niall replied, and sure enough, Harry saw the corridor was empty. He was about to make a run for it just as the bell rang.

Harry sighed. Goodbye, lunch break.

 

 

 

 

There’s someone poking Harry.

He looked behind him to see Niall passing him a note. He took it, glancing at their Biology teacher who was reading from his book in a continuous monotone. Half of the class is asleep.

‘I have a problem,’ read Niall’s note. Before Harry can even write something back, Niall was slipping him another note.

‘I have a crush on the mysterious guy from English class.’ It read. Harry snickered as he scribbled at the back of the small paper.

‘He literally snogs his boyfriend every single day by the lockers before class. They’re practically married.’

When Niall read the note, he made a loud gasp, even the students sleeping almost fell out of their seats and looked at him. Niall suddenly stood up, his face pale.

“Sir, I have to go to the clinic. I need to nurse my broken heart.” Niall said in a quivering voice. The idiot actually has tears in his eyes.

Their teacher stared at Niall for a full minute, then nodded. “Okay.”

Niall dashed out of the room, sobbing loudly.

 

 

 

 

"It's so annoying," Harry mumbled under his breath. "Why aren't we all dismissed at the same time anyway? If only we were, I'd never have to hurry home just so I could catch him still on the roof. This education system MUST be changed." He slapped a hand over his mouth. "Shit, Niall's right. I do sound like a stalker."

Someone snickered behind him. Harry whipped around so fast his neck cracked. The guy behind him was one-half of the hot couple from earlier, the serious one in a flannel.

"I- I, um-" Harry tried to find an excuse.

But the guy placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and grinned. "Don't worry about it, mate." Harry was just about to speak when the guy suddenly stopped walking, gave him a salute, and went inside the house on their left. Huh. There are a lot of hot guys in Harry's block.

He just stood there, caressing the shoulder the flannel guy touched, annoyed at himself for being useless around hot people, when he remembered that he was actually in a hurry. He jogged the last few steps to their house. He didn't dare look at the house across the road, because the hot guy might already be on the roof and Harry didn't want to be caught staring.

He unlocked the door and was about to go in their house, but then paused. He took a step backward and placed the key under the rug. Harry smiled to himself. There. He actually remembered to do that. Now he wouldn't have to open the door when his mum arrives in a few minutes. He's quite proud of himself.

That was before he remembered that he was supposed to be hurrying up his room. Then Harry was annoyed at himself again as he ran up the stairs.

 

 

 

 

Harry sighed dreamily.

The hot guy, perched on the roof of the house from across the road, just looks so beautiful there, the sun setting behind him as he drew on his little notebook with a cigarette between his lips, even if Harry couldn't properly see because he only dared to peek out a little from his closed binds.

Harry squinted, because he can never make out what the guy was drawing, even after weeks of watching him there on the roof. But he could see, though, that the hot guy's lighter has a picture of something blue and red. Harry doesn’t know what it is but he thinks he’s in love. He sighed dreamily for the second time.

He thinks that maybe he would endure hurrying home every single day, and maybe even embarrassing himself in front of hot guys, if he could only watch the beautiful boy who smokes every sunset.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fyi the hot couple by the lockers are zayn and liam hehe
> 
> chapter 2 soon! (i hope)


	2. Chapter 2

‘I’m going to see what he’ll be drawing today no matter what’ was Harry’s first thought the next morning.

He was chanting the sentence in his head when he trudged downstairs sleepily. Anne, his mum, was already cooking pancakes in the kitchen. She looked up at him and smiled. “Morning, love! Hey, um, do you know the kid that lives across the road?”

Harry almost fell out of the stairs. “I, uh, what? No. Why?”

If his mum noticed Harry blushing, she didn’t say anything about it. “I talked to his mum earlier before she left. Turns out you’re in the same grade as him!”

“Oh, cool.” Harry tried to sound casual as he sat down at the kitchen table. Deep inside, he was on the floor, shrieking at the top of his lungs with flailing arms. “We probably have a class together. What’s his name?”

His mum placed a plate of stacked pancakes in front of him, flashing a small, secretive smile. Harry doesn’t know what to make of it. “Louis. Isn’t that a lovely name?”

Louis.

_Louis._

Fuck, Harry’s going to die. It’s _perfect._ “Y-yeah. Lovely.”

 

 

Harry’s positively beaming in pure, utter bliss. Niall’s eyes are constantly glistening with unshed tears.

“I had quite an eventful morning, H. I saw my crush and his boyfriend making out, and I can’t decide who’s prettier. I think I’m in love with both of them.”

Harry should probably be a little concerned about his best friend, but instead he wanted to argue that while Niall’s morning might be eventful, his morning was _momentous._ “Niall, I just learned the name of the love of my life.” He lowered his voice and looked around to check that nobody was listening. “It’s Louis. It’s so pretty.”

“Okay, but have you heard what I just said, Haz? Because, yeah, mysterious guy has neck veins that are super hot, but one look at flannel guy’s eyebrows and I’m already hard in my pants. And his hands! Oh, he has such pretty hands.” A lone, fat tear rolled down Niall’s cheek.

“Well, you must know that his hand was on my shoulder yesterday. He lives beside our house and we talked a bit.” Well, the guy laughed at him while Harry stuttered incoherent rubbish, but Niall doesn’t have to know that.

Harry’s face was smug for five seconds before a shrieking Niall lunged at him.

 

 

Louis is staring at him. 

Harry's in between two tables full of cheerleaders, holding a tray of fruits and yogurt when he stopped dead in his tracks. He was scanning the cafeteria for Niall, only to find Louis staring at him from across the room. 

He's frozen. He doesn't know what to do. But then, from a sudden burst of courage, he thought maybe this was his chance. Maybe he could approach him, say hello, strike up a conversation about-

"Excuse me," said a girl behind him that he was apparently blocking the way of. Harry stepped aside to let her through, her long, blonde hair almost dipping into his yogurt. When he looked back up, he saw Louis looking at the blonde girl with a wide smile on his face. Harry could feel his heart sinking to his toes when she sat down beside Louis and they both started eating.

He thought- fuck, he actually thought Louis was staring at him. But why on earth would Louis stare at him? He's so ridiculous. And foolish. How could he just assume that he had a chance? Louis's straight. And worse, he has a girlfriend. Harry sat down on the nearest chair he could find, feeling tears start to pool in his eyes.

"Haz, there you are!" Niall's voice startled him out of his misery. He sat down and then faced Harry with wide eyes. "Did you see that? Louis was staring at you. He was totally looking at you with heart eyes for, like, a solid ten minutes."

Harry's heart broke into a thousand more pieces. "Ni, he was staring at the girl behind me. Look, he's laughing at what she just said. Bet it wasn't even funny." Harry said with a pout. He doesn't even want to eat his yogurt anymore. The girl probably infected it with microbes and viruses and deadly diseases.

"No, he was totally looking at you, I'm sure of it." Niall argued. Well, Niall also said a week ago that he was sure Kate from Biology class was the one for him, and now he's in love with two boys. He's not exactly a man of his words.

 

 

Harry's not nervous at all, no. His heart is pounding and his palms are sweating only because he ran all the way from the bus stop. Also because hot flannel guy was in the same bus as him. And also because he's really, really fucking nervous.

He has to know what Louis is always drawing. He's already going crazy with curiosity. He bets it's beautiful, though. As pretty as Louis's cheekbones. As striking as his eyes. (Harry actually still isn't sure about the color of Louis's eyes, because the first time he saw Louis climb on the roof, it was a gloomy day and the clouds were gray, and so were his eyes. The next day, it was bright and sunny, and his eyes were as blue as the sky.)

From the small slit in his blinds, Harry saw Louis opening his notebook and then starting to sketch. Harry could literally feel his heart hammering against his ribcage. With shaking fingers, he opened his blinds wider to properly peak out. He stared long and hard at Louis's journal, but it was so far away and all he could see were swirls of black ink.

He was concentrating on the page too hard that he didn't even notice that Louis's hand has stilled. Once he did, though, his eyes snapped back up Louis's face. Louis's eyes were wide, and were staring directly at Harry.

Harry'd been caught.

Shit shit shit shit shit. 

(and Louis's eyes are a lovely shade of sea foam green today)

Fuuuuuck.

Harry couldn't breathe. Fuck, he hopes he's not having an asthma attack. All the color drained from his face as he stared at Louis. The boy on the roof stared back with as much intensity.

And then Louis broke the gaze and started scrambling back to his room. Shit, what has Harry done? He stared at the open window but could no longer see Louis. He kept waiting for him to show up, flash him a middle finger, or maybe call the cops.

And then the doorbell rang.

Harry ran down the stairs. Shit, is it the police? Is he going to jail? Or is it Louis, about to punch him for being a creepy stalker? He closed his eyes as he slowly turned the knob and opened the door.

When he opened his eyes, his breath caught in his throat.

It was his mom. 

Shit. "I forgot to put the key under the rug, didn't I?" Harry said, unsure whether to feel relieved or disappointed.

"Yes, but it's not a mortal sin. Don't look so scared." His mum answered, letting herself in, looking amused.

When Harry went back to his room and looked out his window, the blinds behind the window across the road were drawn shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> last chapter soon <3


	3. Chapter 3

Harry doesn't want to get up.

Louis probably thinks he's some psycho stalker. He's probably never going to see him again. Louis will maybe even tell his mum and then his mum would tell Anne and then Anne would tell the police and _Harry's doomed._

There's just no point in life anymore.

"Haz, come on! Move!" Niall muttered as he pulled Harry's arm. It was no use though, because the guy was too scrawny for Harry's gigantic limbs. "I wanna catch neck veins guy and pretty hands guy snogging. Pleaaaase get up."

"Niall." Harry whispered. Niall stopped pulling his arm to stare at him. "He saw me. He saw me. Just leave me here. I will be with you in spirit."

Niall's cheeks were pink. "I don't want your fucking spirit." Niall spat. "I'm going to take your clothes off and dress you myself if you don't get up this instant."

Harry bolted up as if struck by lightning, stumbling to the bathroom.

 

 

 

 

Harry's first thought was: Oh. So it _is_ a cartoon of spiderman that's on his lighter.

His second thought was: Shit.

He was about to enter the library when his eyes zeroed on Louis, who was seated in the middle of the room, talking to the blonde girl. His back was on Harry, his sketchbook open on the table in front of him, and his lighter was poking out of his back pocket.

Harry was frozen on the doorway, unsure on what to do. On the one hand, he should just leave before Louis sees him. On the other hand, he really has to print his homework for his class next period. He stood there, calculating his options.

But Louis made the decision for him. His head whipped around, as if sensing Harry's presence. And, shit, Harry could see some form of urgency in Louis's eyes. He hopes it isn't fear.

They stared at each other for a long moment. Louis's eyes are a stormy gray.

And then, like the day before, Louis was the one to break the gaze as he scrambled up, flipping his sketchbook shut. He was walking towards Harry, but his head was bowed, his face hidden by his fringe.

Harry's hands are shaking. Shit, what is Louis going to do? Is he going to punch him? Scream at him? Kiss him senseless? (really, where the fuck did that idea even come from)

Louis's two steps away from him. Harry took a deep breath.

Louis walked past him. Louis _walked past him_ , out the of the library.

and he smelled like smoke and charcoal.

Harry feels faint. Is Louis scared of him? Is he angry? Why couldn't he just come up to Harry and confront him rather than torturing him like this?

He walked with shaking legs toward the computers, trying to calm his pounding heart.

While his homework was printing, he caught the blonde girl staring at him, her eyes wary.

Harry is fucked.

 

 

 

 

He doesn't know why he's doing this.

What if Louis catches him again? What if he gets really mad this time?

Why the fuck is he still peeking out his blinds, staring at Louis's window, waiting for him to come out?

It's been thirty minutes. He's been looking out his window for thirty minutes since five in the afternoon, and Louis still hasn't come out. What if Louis was so creeped out by Harry, he's scared to even climb his own roof? Somehow, that was the worst theory Harry has thought of so far.

When the clock struck 5:31, the doorbell rang.

Harry slapped his forehead. He felt his pocket, and yep, their key is still there. He's been so distracted, he completely forgot to put it under the rug.

He trudged downstairs, grumbling about why his mum still hasn't gotten another pair. As he turned the knob, he opened his mouth to complain to Anne.

But Anne wasn't there. Instead, there was nobody on his doorway.

"What the hell?" Harry muttered as he looked around. The street was completely empty. He was about to close the door when he saw something on the floor.

A sketchbook. And a lighter with a spiderman cartoon.

Harry's heart pounded in his chest. His hands shook as he picked up the book and lighter from the floor. He looked around again, looking for Louis. But all the windows of their house are shut. He frowned, confused.

He placed the key under the rug. He went back inside their house and back up his room. He looked out his window, but Louis's blinds are still shut. He turned the lighter on his hand. Why would Louis leave these on his doorway?

He slowly opened the sketchbook, and what he saw left him completely speechless.

The sketch is black and white. There was a drawing of a window, and behind that, a boy with curls perched on his bed, bent over a book. The title of the book is 'Jellicoe Road'. He remembers reading it the night a new family moved in the house across from theirs a few months ago.

Harry feels faint again, so he sat down on his bed as he turned to the next page.

The next drawing is still black and white. It's of two boys walking through a school corridor. One is clearly Niall. His head is bent back laughing. The other boy's head is bowed, his face hidden by curls. He's wearing a Nirvana shirt.

Harry looked down on the shirt he's wearing. There, written in the middle of the worn out cloth: 'Nirvana' (he does wear it quite a lot)

The next drawing is, again, of him. This time, he was crouching down in front of a door, placing a key under a rug. Like the others, it's black and white.

Harry paused, his head swimming. So Louis knows he exist? Louis's been drawing him? All this time he's been watching Louis on the roof, he's been drawing _him_?

When Harry turned to the next page, he gasped loudly.

This one is in color. It's _beautiful._ It's a drawing of a window with closed blinds. But there, in the middle, a pair of green eyes peeking out.

!!!!!!!!!

Harry doesn't know what to do. He feels like shrieking and crying and jumping all at the same time. He looked out his window again, hoping to see Louis.

He's not there.

So Harry turned to the last page.

At first, he couldn't make out the drawing. It was a rough sketch, as if done hurriedly. But when he finally understood what the drawing is, his heart seemingly skipped a beat.

The stars and the moon are out in the sky. There are two figures on the roof, one with curls, and one holding a cigarette.

 

 

 

 

Harry stirred, slowly waking up. He didn't realize he fell asleep, the sketchbook clutched in his chest. It's dark out, and he couldn't remember what woke him up at first.

And then he hears it again.

Someone is knocking on his window.

And there, outside, is Louis, his head upside down, smiling timidly.

Harry stumbled as he hurriedly opened his window. Louis was on his stomach on their roof, but he sat up once Harry poked his head out.

"Hi." Louis whispered.

Fuck, he's so gorgeous.

"I- um, hi." Harry stuttered.

Louis patted the space next to him.

Thank the lucky stars above, Harry often climbed their roof as a kid, so he's got a lot of practice in that. Nonetheless, he took the hand Louis offered as he climbed up his roof.

Once he was seated beside Louis, he cleared his throat.

"So, um, I hope I didn't creep you out." They said at the same time. They looked at each other and chuckled.

"You first." Harry said.

Louis smiled. He looked nervous. "Did you, um, did you see my drawings?"

Harry nodded. "They're beautiful." He sighed.

It's hard to tell because of the dark, but he thinks Louis is blushing. "I've been seeing you here and around the school since we moved in, and I couldn't help but draw you." Yep, he's definitely blushing. "I'm sorry, please don't get weirded out."

Harry laughed. What a weird turn of events. "No, no, believe me, I'm not."

Louis stared at him for a minute before continuing. "So, I drew you quite a lot." Louis smiled shyly and looked at Harry, as if checking for Harry's reaction. Harry grinned, and Louis smiled back. "But whenever I would see you, I couldn't see your eyes. I smoke on our roof mainly because mum hates the smell, but also because I wanted to see you when you got home from school."

Harry's shocked. "Really?"

"Yeah, but you were always hurrying home. And your blinds were always drawn. I just really..." Louis paused, looking anywhere but at Harry. "I just really wanted to know the color of your eyes."

Harry is speechless. There he was, scared of being caught staring, hiding behind his blinds, while Louis sat on their roof waiting for him to get home so he could see his eyes? This couldn't be real life.

Louis cleared his throat, but his voice was obviously shaking. "That's why the only drawing that's colored in is the one when I caught you peeking out from your window. That was when I learned your eyes were green."

Harry's brain is about to explode. What the hell is even happening. Everything he's hearing right now is hard to believe, but what's even more bewildering is that Louis looks so nervous.

"I have a crush on you, you know that, right?" Harry blurted out. Shit. Honestly, he didn't mean to say that. He just really wanted Louis to stop looking so shy and insecure.

But it worked.

Louis's smiling, and his eyes looks so fucking blue it's unreal. "Well, I sort of kinda fancy you too. Quite a lot." He said, his smile growing wider.

Harry grinned back. He died in his sleep and has gone to heaven. That's the only reasonable explanation on why this is happening right now.

"Dimples." Louis whispered, looking astounded, staring at Harry's cheek. He looked like a kid who's just learned that his new toy can speak. "Can I-" He trailed off, reaching out. Louis's finger was inches away from his cheek when Harry was startled by his phone vibrating in his pocket.

Louis's hand dropped on his lap, and he looked down, blushing. Harry took his phone out and read the text. It's from Niall.

'Hot couple just asked me if I wanted to join them in a threesome. Yay!'

Harry chuckled. He placed his phone back in his pocket, looking back up at Louis.

Louis's picking out a cigarette from his pack. Harry took Louis's lighter from his pocket and gave it to him.

If somebody ever walked by Harry's house, they would see, under a sky full of stars, two figures on the roof - one with curls, and one holding a cigarette.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sooo. we have reached the end. yayy! *pats back because i actually managed to finish a fic*
> 
> hope you liked it lovies x


End file.
